An extract from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
汤姆·索亚历险记节选
Tom and Becky walked down a winding passage inside a cave, holding their candles high.
汤姆和贝基高举蜡烛在一个洞里曲折的通道里走。
They saw names and dates written on the wall with candle smoke by other visitors to the cave.
他们看见很多其他来访者用蜡烟熏写在岩洞墙壁上的姓名和日期。
Becky and Tom read some of them as they walked along.
贝基和汤姆经过的时候读了一些。
They were talking so much that it was a little while before they noticed they were now in a part of the cave that had no writing on the wall.
他们聊了很多，后来忽然意识到他们进入岩洞，岩壁上没有任何写任何东西。
They used candle smoke to write their own names on the rock and walked on.
他们用蜡烟在岩石上写了自己的名字，继续走。
Soon they came to a place where a little stream of water was running.
他们很快来到一个地方，那儿有一股小小的水流。
Over the years the cave wall had been shaped by the running stream, and it looked like a frozen waterfall.
年复一年，岩壁已经被流水侵蚀，看上去像一个结冰的瀑布。
Tom went behind it and lit it up with his candle so that Becky could see it better.
汤姆来到它后面用蜡烛照亮它，这样贝基就能更好地看清。
Behind the stone waterfall he found an opening in the rock, leading downwards.
在石瀑后面，他发现一个通向下面的开口。
At once he wanted to explore it.
他立刻就想去看看。
Becky agreed and together they started to walk down into the earth.
贝基也同意一起去，他们一起开始往地下走。
They wound this way and that, far into the cave, making smoke marks here and there to show the way back. This was exciting.
他们在洞里深处蜿蜒前进，用烟到处做标记，标明返回的路。这令人激动。
They would have a lot to tell their friends above when they returned.
他们返回后，有许多东西要讲给上面的朋友听。
In one place, they found a huge, open space full of shining stalactites, as long and thick as a man's leg.
在一个地方，他们发现了一个巨大而开阔的空间，里面满是闪闪发光的钟乳石，像人腿那么长那么粗。
They walked around it and left by one of the many passages that opened into it.
他们绕着它走，从很多出口中的一个出去。
The next place they found was full of bats. There were thousands of them.
他们找到的下一个洞里都是蝙蝠。数千只蝙蝠。
The candlelight woke them up, and they flew at the candle flames at once.
烛光把它们惊醒，它们立刻飞向烛光。
Tom knew this was dangerous and took Becky's hand to hurry her away.
汤姆知道这样很危险，马上拉起贝基的手带她逃走。
He pulled her into the first opening he found.
他把她推进他发现的第一个洞口。
And none too soon, one of the bats put out Becky's candle with its wings as she ran away.
没多久，就在她跑到时候，一只蝙蝠就用翅膀扇灭了贝基的蜡烛。
The bats chased them for quite a long way, but Tom and Becky ran into every new passage that they came to, and at last got away from the bats.
蝙蝠追了他们好一阵子，但是汤姆和贝基跑进每一个新通道，最后逃脱了蝙蝠的追赶。
